Her journey has taken her from a Kenyan refugee camp to the Minnesota House of Representatives to national celebrity, from the cover of Time Magazine to a cameo in a Maroon 5 video, to the U.S. Congress. Now countless national interviews including with CBS This Morning and The View.

Now Congresswoman-elect Omar is talking about taking on President Trump, including at a University of Minnesota Humphrey School forum.

“The kind of opportunity that came from the resistance to this awful person in the White House and Republicans kind of adopting that message, that being a strong man kind of sustained them, allowed for us to say there is a kind of politics that’s about hope, about joy, about optimism, about inclusion,” she said.

She is offering up her agenda: healthcare is a priority.

“I want to go to Washington to make sure we really have an opportunity to expand health care for folks so that is accessible to them,” Omar said.

Asked what she would say if she has a chance to come face-to-face with Trump soon, she said “I would say that he is faced with an opportunity to lead. ‘You are faced with an opportunity to lead our nation.’ It is not worth much if we are continuing to fight, and I would expect that a leader moves us into a direction where we take our country to be more prosperous to make it one that works for working families. … I would talk to him to understand the opportunity he is wasting because we have too much to do for the American people.”

Omar credits her husband and her children — who are ages 15, 12 and 6 — with allowing her to do the work she loves.

“I have been very fortunate to have a partner who really stepped up, and have wonderful children who do a lot of things that make it easy for Mommy to do this work.”

Esme Murphy

Esme Murphy, a reporter and Sunday morning anchor for WCCO-TV, has been a member of the WCCO-TV staff since December 1990. She is also a weekend talk...More fromEsme Murphy

Ilhan Omar is nothing but a liar. Even after video showing adult men screaming profanities at children she continues to say the children where the ones at fault. What do you expect coming from a culture where everyone lies about everything all the time.

Ilhan Omar, you are an idiot. I see your latest tweet say Trump is backing rebel forces in Venezuela. You support the current government. You are a total embarrassment to Minnesota. Put down the meth pipe. Stop chewing Khat.

Congressional freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., once asked a judge to show leniency toward a group of Minnesota men accused of trying to join the Islamic State terror group. She is trying to make inroads into freeing Muslims from prison who would kill Americans if given the chance! They must all be retained in Prison until that attitude has been eradicated!